Emily Bishop
Emily Bishop (née Nugent) is a character in Coronation Street who first appeared in Episode 4 (21 Dec 1960) as a walk on part, played by an unknown actress, but came back in January 1961 as a full time character played by Eileen Derbyshire but Deryshire took maternity leave in 1966-67 and then returned. In 1964 "Miss Nugent" as Leonard Swindley called her, came close to marrying Leonard but called it off. She was the longest serving female character but left for Peru in Ep 8807/8808 (1 Jan 2016). From 1961 to 2016 Emily was played by actress Eileen Derbyshire, who decided to take a break from the role in late 2015 which was later extended. After 55 years in the role, it was likely Eileen may not return to the show, but in 2019 she agreed to make a cameo as Emily. The actress to play her in 1960 was not credited so is unknown. Biography Backstory 1960 In December 1960, Emily appeared at The Mission Hall and tended to Ena Sharples after she collapsed whilst Leonard Swindley called for an ambulance. 1961-1966 Miss Nugent returned in January 1961 and soon got a job working for Gamma Garments. She was always known as Miss Nugent until she revealed her first name. Emily left the area in December 1961 but returned in June 1962. She dated her supervisor Leonard Swindley and they almost married in 1964 but she realised she could not go through with the wedding. In February 1966 Emily left Weatherfield to look after her ill father James in Harrogate. She decided to return to Coronation Street for good in January 1967 when one of her sisters took over looking after their father. 1967-2016 Emily returned to Weatherfield in January 1967. She soon became friends with photographer Ernie Bishop. They married in 1972, by then, Emily's ill father had passed away. Emily was quite strait laced but also a bit of a gossip at times. Emily and Ernie never had children, as Emily was in her 40s when she married Ernie. In January 1978. Ernie was shot dead by 2 gunmen. In January 2003 she was attacked and nearly killed by Richard Hillman as he wanted her house to pay off his debt problems. Maxine Peacock walked in and ended up being murdered. Emily survived, but the truth about Richard wouldn't come out until the following month and he later perished when trying to kill himself and his family. In December 2005 Emily met Ed Jackson. In March 2006 she discovered he was her husband Ernie's killer and told him to leave. But she later forced herself to forgive him as he was full of guilt and contemplating suicide. She gave him Ernie's camera, and told Ed to send her a photo of him every year to let her know he was alright. In 2009 Emily befriended Norris' estranged half-brother Ramsay Clegg, whom Norris blamed for the death of their mother. However Ramsay later died when he left to return to Australia, which turned out to be a brain tumour. Emily was devastated and blamed Norris for not giving him a chance. Norris was later full of guilt when Ramsay left him a suitcase full of letter and also money, and Norris discovered his mother refused Ramsay to make contact. In December 2015 Emily decided to make contact with her nephew Spider again and found out he was volunteering in Peru. When finding out he was short of volunteers, she traveled over there to help out, feeling like it was time to make the most of her life. She departed on New Year's Day, being seen off by her friends. After 2019 Emily chose to remain in Peru, and got Norris to sell off most of her stuff. Following her departure, Norris felt lonely and ended up taking in lodgers such as Sean Tully and Brian Packham in order to cope. In January 2018, two years following her departure, Ken informed Sophie Webster that Emily has returned to the United Kingdom from Peru and is taking care of her niece Freda. He mentions that she may stop by to visit. The following episode, Norris went to visit Emily at Freda's off-screen. In october 2019, Emily Skyped Ken to wish him a happy 80th birthday. Residences *Number 3 Coronation Street (1972-2016) *Peru (2016-2018) *16a Turnham Street, Edinburgh (2018-) Behind the Scenes *Although the character first appeared in 1961, it wasn't until the following year she was given the first name Emily. However she still continued to be referred to as "Miss Nugent" for the best part of the decade, until she was credited as "Emily Nugent" in 1969 and was referred to by her name thereafter. *Emily was absent from December 1961 to June 1962 due to the Equity actors' strike. The character's absence wasn't given, although Emily wasn't a street resident at that time. *Emily was absent from 1966 to 1967 as Eileen Derbyshire took maternity leave to give birth to her son. *In November 2015, it was reported that Eileen Derbyshire had requested a six-months break from the programme, which was granted by producers. The character departed on New Year's Day 2016 in which she traveled to Peru to volunteer with her nephew Spider. Although originally expected to return in July 2016, she is still absent from the show. As of February 2019, it has been 3 years since she departed. *Eileen was good friends with Margot Bryant, who had played the character Minnie Caldwell for sixteen-years in Coronation Street from 1960 to 1976. Dialogue *"Anniversary Sunday" (First line, to Ena Sharples) Memorable info Appearances: 14 December 1960 (walk-on extra only), 27 January–6 December 1961, 11 June 1962–16 February 1966, 18 January 1967–1 January 2016 Born: 21st October 1929 Full Name: Emily Bishop (Nee Nugent) Parents: James Nugent and Agnes Nugent Siblings: Edgar Nugent, Norah Seddon, Joan Corrie, Brenda Nugent, Marjorie Nugent Spouses: Ernie Bishop (1972-1978), Arnold Swain (1980; bigamist) Children: None Trivia As she is well spoken, Emily always calls people by their full names, even ones with shortened versions of their name which are commonly used, and even when characters are known by nicknames, she still uses their real name. Such as when ber nephew Spider Nugent was a lodger, she called him Geoffrey. And when Curly Watts was a lodger, she always called him by his real name Norman. Dev Alahan was dubbed as "poor Devendra" by Emily when his wife died. Emily shares that trait with Jim McDonald, who is a lot more abrasive but has a tradition of using peoples full names, may be his Northern Irish tradition, such as calling Steve, "Stephen" and Liz "Elizabeth". There are exceptions though, as she addressed Elizabeth (Bet) Lynch and Royston (Roy) Cropper by their short names. Gallery Miss Nugent 1960.png|Unnamed extra as "Miss Nugent" in December 1960 Emily 1961.png|Eileen Derbyshire first appearance as Miss Nugent (January 1961) Emily and Leonard.png|Emily tells Mr. Swindley she is unable to marry him Emily marries Ernest.jpg|Emily marries Ernest in 1972 News broken to Emily over Ernie.png|Emily is informed that Ernie has died after he was shot (1978) Emily and Arnold Swain.png|Emily marries Arnold Swain in 1980 (however it wouldn't be a happy union) emily attacked by richard hillman.png|Emily after being bludgeoned by Richard Hillman in 2003 Emily grieves for Ramsay 2009.png|Emily grieves for Ramsay Clegg in 2009 emily leaves 2016.png|Emily says goodbye before heading off for Peru in January 2016 Category:Coronation Street Characters. Category:Past characters. Category:Characters first seen in 1961. Category:Characters last seen in 2019 Category:Nugents. Category:Bishops. Category:Baldwins Casuals Factory Staff Category:1929 Births Category:1972 Marriages Category:Gamma Garments staff Category:Characters played by different actors Category:Iconic Coronation Street characters Category:Characters played by unknown actors Category:Original Characters